Sherwin Callander served in Pearl Harbor recovery effort

MADISON – Sherwin Callander never knew the impact that he would make on his new town when he drove his vintage Volvo wagon from south Florida in 2009.

Since arriving in Madison, 97-year-old Callander was charmed people across North Alabama with his irrepressible spirit and personality. As a veteran of World War II, Callander was become the unofficial spokesperson for Madison with his visits to local events, school assemblies and commemorative war sites around the world.

Born in Canada in 1920, Callander was three years old when his family moved to the United States. During the Great Depression, he returned to Canada to live with his grandparents when he was 12.

In the 1930s, Callander worked in a Civilian Conservation Corps or CCC camp in California when he was 15 years old. “I made $30 a month — $25 went home,” he said.

“I wasn’t drafted. I enlisted before the war in 1939. I just got caught in it. I was proud of everything I did,” he said.

In December 1941, Callander was stationed at Wake Island and repaired airplanes. “We were coming back from Pearl one beautiful moonlit night, and a Japanese carrier passed us … on its way to Pearl Harbor.”

Then the world stood still. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Callander and his shipmates sailed to Hawaii for the recovery effort. “We helped with cleanup. Bodies were in the water,” he said. “When you lifted a head out of the water, you didn’t know if a body would be attached.”

In June 2014, Callander and fellow World War II veterans visited Normandy. “All of the people (in France) respected us so much. That was an awesome trip,” Callander said.

In 2016, the French Consul presented the French Legion of Honor, the country’s highest military award, to Callander. He also has visited the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. with Honor Flight.

In early December, Callander bid bon voyage to Bob Jones High School Band members before they flew to Hawaii to perform at Pearl Harbor memorial ceremonies on Dec. 7.